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| 'Water' director Deepa Mehta (left) and star
Lisa Ray pose during the opening night gala cocktail party for the
Toronto International Film Festival in Toronto on
Thursday. |
The 30th Toronto International Film Festival kicks off later Thursday
with Indian-born Canadian director Deepa Mehta expected to open the
festival with her film " Water" which is to be screened in the evening.
Over the 10 days of the festival, 335 films from 52 countries will be
shown, including low-budget shorts and Canadian-produced feature and
Hollywood blockbuster material. Over 100 of the films will be world or
North American premieres.
About 500
celebrities are expected to attend the festival, including Gwyneth Paltrow, Anthony Hopkins
and Morgan Freeman.
A special program
will take place to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the birth of Chinese
movie and the 35th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic
relations between China and Canada. Nine Chinese films will be presented.
Starting in 1976 as a festival to screen collections in other
festivals, the Toronto event has become regarded as the most successful of
the international film festivals.
More than 3,000 films from around the world now
vie for a coveted spot
on the festival's program lists, though the festival accepts only about
one in 10.
The festival is said to deliver an annual economic boost of 67 million
Canadian dollars (about 55 million US dollars) annually.
Rod Seiling, president of the Greater Toronto Hotel Association, said
the festival "generates positive results not just for the business it
brings but for the attention it conveys on the destination."
(CRI) | 
Updated: 2005-09-09 09:26
